


Dinosaurs, Tiaras, and a Superhero Cape

by EzzyDean



Series: Never Back Down [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 21:10:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6025006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/pseuds/EzzyDean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a lot of things in his life that Ryuu is thankful for: his daughter, his friends, his family, his friends' wedding.  He never thought he'd be this thankful for a broken lock or his daughter being able to make friends with strangers so easily.</p><p>aka that “We’re staying in conjoining rooms at a hotel, which is fine, but it turns out the lock on my side is broken so your kid keeps coming in here to show me pictures of dinosaurs. You keep apologizing but honestly I like dinosaurs so this might work out after all” AU you never knew you needed</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It’s six in the morning and Ryuu wakes with a start, coming out of a dream of black skies and murky waters, with that disturbing niggling in his gut that something isn’t quite right.  It takes him approximately twenty seconds to glance across the room and zero in on what it is, he blames his slow response on the clinging remnants of his bad dream and the fact that they had been on the road for nearly the entire day before and only getting to the hotel long after the sun had set.

“Mizuki?”  He’s up and out of the bed in an instant when he registers the empty bed beside his own, covers ruffled and shoved to the side.  The mattress is cool to the touch when he checks it and he looks around the small room, refusing to let himself panic even when he opens the bathroom door and finds it empty.  His blood rushes through his veins clogging his ears with a white fuzz of noise as he forces himself to take deep breaths and close his eyes to center himself.  It’s not the first time she’s wandered off and he knows how to handle it: don’t panic being top of the list.

His eyes flutter open when he hears a voice he doesn’t recognize coming from the other side of the door near his bed.  They were staying in a rooms that had been booked for the wedding guests and some of them had been conjoining rooms and his heart tries to jump to his throat as he hurries over and presses his hand against the smooth wood.  Had he been truly focused he would have realized the door had been cracked open to begin with and would have noticed the soft light coming from the other side.  Again, he blames the dream and the drive and the fact that sometimes even he has trouble keeping up with the five-year-old whirlwind that is his daughter.

“No that’s not even the right era at all.  Where did you even learn that?”

“In my book.  See?”  Mizuki’s voice floats over to him and Ryuu feels his breath come back as he braces himself against the doorway at the sight of her blue and green dinosaur print pajamas and blonde hair.  She has her dinosaur encyclopedia spread open on her lap and is sitting cross legged on one of the beds of the conjoining room.  A man about his age with black rimmed glasses, sleep mussed blond hair a shade lighter than Mizuki’s but somehow with the same adorable curls at the ends, and a set of workout clothes is seated on the other bed with a scowl on his face as he leans over to look at where she is pointing.  “It says it right there.”

“Your book is either very outdated or had some very poor research done before it was published. Either way it’s not a very good book.”  He doesn’t recognize the voice but the tone is serious yet hushed and calm in a way that most people aren’t when dealing with his daughter.

Mizuki gasps and smacks her palm on her book.  “My Papa got me this.  It’s the best book.”

Mizuki had her mother’s blonde hair and brown eyes and curiosity and thirst for knowledge.  Unfortunately she had her father’s expressive face, fiery spirit, fearlessness of strangers, and love of meeting new people.  It made for a combination that was difficult to handle, even for him some days, and he can’t help but watch this stranger huff a little and shake his head almost fondly as Mizuki flips through the pages and points out something else.

“This is my favorite.  Kentrosaurus.  They’re so neat looking, aren’t they?”

“That’s not even what they ate,” the man mutters with a frown.  “How old is this book?”  Mizuki shuts the book hard, the thwump of the hardcover making her smile before she hands it over to the man.

“Papa bought for me last year when I turned four, see.”  The man flips the cover open and sees the note and date Ryuu had written in it when he got it for her and Ryuu’s heart stumbles a little when the man gets a small smile on his face for just a moment before he shakes his head once again, that adorable frown back on his lips.

“I suppose it isn’t always easy to find decent books about dinosaurs.”

“It’s a good book!”  Mizuki defends again and snatches it out of the man’s hands.  “Papa said he tried really really hard to find one that didn’t dumb stuff down ‘cause I’m not a dumb kid.”

“I can see that you definitely are not dumb.  It’s just too bad that he couldn’t have found an even better book.  Then you would know even more things about dinosaurs.”

Ryuu shifts in the doorway as Mizuki gets her contemplative face on and the other man suddenly looks up at the movement and blushes when their eyes meet.  Ryuu has enough time to think that it’s actually kind of an adorable look before Mizuki spins and gasps happily.

“Papa!”  She’s off the bed in a flash, leaving the other man scrambling to catch her book before it hits the floor Ryuu notes, and launching herself into his arms with a giggle.  “You’re awake finally!”

“Finally?”  Ryuu asks as he settles her familiar weight in his arms and buries his nose in her hair just to hear her giggle again.

“Finally yeah.  I tried to wake you up a bunch and then the light came on under the door and Tsukishima was awake and we’ve talked about dinosaurs for hours.”

“Tsukishima, huh?”  He glances up at the man who nods at him, face still flushed, as he carefully sets Mizuki’s book on the bed and stands, fingers pressing together in front of his stomach almost nervously.  “What have I told you about talking to strangers, Mizuki?”

She blinks up at him and frowns as she thinks.

“Um.  Not to yell at them?”

A snicker from the stranger - Tsukishima, his brain supplies happily - makes him sigh because, well, she wasn’t wrong.  They had needed to have that conversation.

“I meant the not talking to strangers without my permission and without me around.”

Understanding dawns on her face and her eyes go wide.  “Oh.”

“Yeah.  Oh.”

“But his name is Tsukishima and he likes dinosaurs and he’s here for Uncle Suga’s wedding!”  She wraps her fingers in his shirt and tugs insistently, stretching the collar as she wriggles and pouts.  “He’s not strange at all.”

Ryuu laughs quietly and rolls his eyes when she looks over her shoulder at Tsukishima.

“Ah I’m sorry for my daughter’s intrusion this morning.”  Ryuu grins when their eyes meet again and he’s happy to see that Tsukishima doesn’t shy away from the contact even though he looks more uncomfortable talking to Ryuu than he did talking to a five year old.

“It’s alright,” Tsukishima’s eyes drop down to Mizuki and he scoops up the book to hand it to her.  “I don’t sleep well in hotels so I was up anyway.  The only thing she did was give me an excuse to delay my morning jog with Daichi a little longer than usual.”

“Let’s talk about dinosaurs some more later,” Mizuki says when she grabs her book and settles herself against Ryuu’s chest.

“That’s alright with me but you need to ask your father before you run off and talk to people.”

Mizuki tilts her head against his chest and Ryuu can picture the slight squint and narrowed eyes she’s giving Tsukishima as she contemplates his words - he’s seen the look enough directed at himself after having a serious talk with her - and Tsukishima calmly stares back at her, face serious.  Finally Mizuki nods.

“Deal.”  She leans back and Ryuu looks down at her smile.  “Papa I’m hungry.  Is it time for breakfast now?”

“Sure let me put on actual pants and we can find some breakfast and leave our weekend neighbor to his jogging.  Good luck by the way,” he adds as he turns to re-enter their room.  “I hear Daichi can be a real demon with jogging partners.”

“I know, but thanks.”  The tiniest blush hits Tsukishima’s cheeks again as he steps towards them.  “I’ll get the door.  Have a good day.”

  
  


 

The jog goes about as well as expected seeing as how Daichi is about fifteen hours from being married to his high school sweetheart lifelong soulmate other better half and Kei spends the entire time nodding in the right places and letting his mind muddle over his already long morning while Daichi vents his nervousness.  It had started when he finished changing and brushing his teeth and finally turned on the overhead light and had barely had time to grab his sneakers from his suitcase when a light knock sounded from the doorway that led to the room next door and the door was swinging open to reveal a tiny blonde child in dinosaur pajamas with an oversized book in her hands staring up at him.

“You’re tall,” she had said without preamble and then continued on before he could even respond. “Do you like dinosaurs?”

They had spent over an hour settled on the twin beds in his hotel room talking about dinosaurs and Daichi’s wedding and a half dozen other topics - that all came back to dinosaurs eventually - before movement had caught his eye and looked up to spot a stranger in a pair of boxers and a loose t-shirt propped against the doorway between their rooms smiling at them.  The man’s laugh and Mizuki’s giggle both made his stomach flip when they looked at each other as he shut the door and Kei had to practically manually restart his brain because when Mizuki had tugged on her father’s shirt collar a splash of ink had shown up on his collarbone and, well, Kei had been thoroughly distracted.

“...rooms?”

Daichi’s voice finally breaks through to him again and Kei slows as the hotel comes into sight again.

“What was that?”  Daichi raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything other than repeating his question.

“I said I hope you don’t mind being put in one of the conjoining rooms.  There’s some sort of reunion going on this weekend too so we were kind of limited on room options and I know that the last time you got stuck rooming with Kuroo you nearly smothered him in his sleep.”

“That was like five years ago.”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t smother Kuroo in his sleep if you roomed with him again?”

“No.  Just that it was five years ago so I would at least attempt to cover it up this time.”

Daichi laughs and slaps his shoulder as they slow to a walk and stretch out their arms a bit.

“I am really glad you could make it, Tsukishima.”  Daichi smiles at him and Kei feels his stomach flip flop twist like it always does when someone his age is being sincere with him.  “Seriously.  It means a lot to Suga and me that we have the people we do here, especially since, well you know.”

Kei does know.  He knows the kind of shit those two had gone through with their families and hometown and schools and jobs and friends who turned out to be not so great or supportive.  The fact that those two had come out of all of that as happy as they did was nothing short of a miracle in his eyes.  Not that he’d ever say so in actual words.  But Daichi had never needed that from him.

“You’re marrying him.  Are you ever going to use his given name?”

“Oh he does use it.”  Kuroo’s voice floats down to them from the open window above the side entrance to the hotel.  “Believe me.  But it’s usually when they’re-”

“Kuroo!”

“Oh shit.”  Kei snickers when he hears a door shut.  “Good morning, Suga.  You’re looking lively this morning.  Ready to get married?  Hey don’t hit me I can’t be a best man with a bruised face!”

“Some things really never change do they?”  Kei watches the window shut before letting his eyes drift a few windows down to his own room, pausing only briefly on the window before his.

“I think it would be kind of lonely somehow if they did.”  Daichi answers before he bumps shoulders with Kei and heads inside.  “You ready for this?”

“You’re the one getting married.  I should be asking you that.”

 

 

“I am not photographing you in your underwear for Daichi and Suga’s wedding photos, Kuroo.  Put your pants on already.”  Kei pinches the bridge of his nose and wonders for the fifth time this morning why he agreed to this.  He had known from the start that Kuroo would be zero help.  The only thing he has going for him right now is the fact that Asahi is here for Suga so at least there is one halfway decent person to get along with right now.  Or at least one person he could count on not being in just their boxers or pajamas while he’s trying to take some pictures for the happy couple.  “Seriously Kuroo if you don’t put your pants on right now I am leaving.”

“You’re such a spoilsport sometimes, Tsukki.”

“Don’t call me that.”  Kuroo’s grin drops and he turns serious, slipping his arm around Kei’s shoulders and giving him a squeeze.

“Sorry.  It just slips out sometimes.  You know I don’t mean anything by it.”

Kei takes a deep breath and rolls the arm off his shoulder before heading to the door.  Maybe he should just stick with hanging out with Asahi until the ceremony gets closer.

“I know.  Now put on some damn pants.”

  
  


 

When Ryuu steps out of the shower and peeks his head out of the bathroom he’s not surprised to see the room empty.  This time he doesn’t panic at all though.  He simply pulls on a pair of sweatpants, hooks his towel around his neck, and heads over to the open doorway.

“Mizuki,” he calls out when he steps up to the doorway, “what did I say about telling me before going anywhere?”

“Tsukishima’s here.”

“That’s not the point.”  Ryuu peeks his head around the door and gives his daughter a look.

Tsukishima glances up at Ryuu and then back down at Mizuki quickly, face doing that tiny adorable flush even as he gets a slightly stern look on his face.  “You didn’t ask your father first?”  He doesn’t sound angry, just the right mixture of upset with a touch of disappointment and Ryuu can’t help but wonder if Tsukishima has younger siblings or cousins, or hell maybe even kids of his own, to have that tone down so easily.

“He was in the shower and I wanted to come talk to you about dinosaurs.”

“That’s an excuse, Mizuki.  We’ve talked about excuses like that before.”

“Sorry, Papa.”

“I accept your apology.”  Ryuu gives Tsukishima a smile, trying to apologize on his daughter’s behalf without actually saying the words, and Tsukishima gives him a quick smile back; apology acknowledged and accepted.  “Now I’m sure that Tsukishima here has plenty to do himself to get ready for Uncle Suga’s wedding to Daichi.  And someone needs to get into their dress for the wedding.”

Mizuki’s eyes light up and she hops off the bed with a shout of glee before practically flying past him into their room. 

“Flower girl.”  Ryuu explains when he sees Tsukishima blinking in surprise after her.  “Takes her role very seriously.  Sorry again for all the trouble.  If she bothers you I can have a more serious talk with her or see about swapping rooms since this door doesn’t lock properly.”  The last thing he wants to do is upset someone who is also here for Suga’s wedding.  Suga has enough to deal with in regards to everything else in his life right now and Ryuu refuses to be a problem for him now.

“Oh it’s not a bother.  She’s good company for a five year old.  Better than some of the adults I’ve been around lately.”

“I find that hard to believe.”  Tsukishima’s phone goes off and he frowns down at it and pinches the bridge of his nose in a move that pushes his glasses up towards his forehead and makes him look even younger and more adorable than before.  Ryuu mentally shakes himself away from those thoughts when Tsukishima glances up at him and tosses his phone back onto the table.

“Obviously you’ve never met Kuroo then.”

Ryuu has a vague memory of messy sweaty hair and cold bathroom tiles and apple flavored liqueur and he laughs almost nervously.  He never did remember all the details of that night and Suga, the jerk, refused to share what he knew.

“Once.  A long time ago.  Practically a lifetime ago it feels like now.”  Mizuki calls out from behind him and Ryuu gives Tsukishima an exaggerated bow that makes the other man huff out a quiet laugh.  “My princess calls for her loyal servant.  I’ll see you later at the wedding.”  He shuts the door and heads to the bathroom to help Mizuki into her dress.

Maybe he can ask Kuroo at the reception if  _ he _ remembers anything more about that night.

 

 

“Papa,” Mizuki frowns up at him and Ryuu drops his attention from his reflection - and the tie that’s been giving him hell for the last five minutes - to his daughter.

“What’s up?”

“It won’t stay on.”

The silver circlet that Suga had helped pick out for Mizuki’s outfit keeps sliding out of position and Ryuu feels a frown that matches his daughter’s cross his face.  He hums and digs out the bag of accessories in his toiletries bag.

“Well let’s see if we have a solution in here.  If not,” he raises an eyebrow at her and she cheers.

“We go to Asahi!”

“We go to Asahi,” he agrees with a grin.

Somehow there is not a single bobby pin to be found in either of their bags and Mizuki refuses to perform her duties with “super ugly hair clippies” holding her circlet in place.  

So they go to Asahi.  Who is currently holed up in Suga’s room helping him with his suit and tie and telling him for the fourth time that hour that he looks fine, Daichi will look fine, everything will be fine.

“Man, Asahi, who would have ever thought that you’d be the one to be calming me down?”  Suga laughs nervously as Asahi pulls out a handful of bobby pins and drops them into Ryuu’s hand to hold as he fixes Mizuki’s hair.  She’s settled on Suga’s lap and Suga has his face pressed into her tiny shoulder as she pats his arm gently and Asahi quickly pins her circlet into place with a few well placed bobby pins.

“You’re gonna be awesome today Uncle Suga.  Lotsa people who love you are here and you get to say you’ll be with Uncle Daichi forever in front of all of us.  It’s pretty cool.  And if something goes wrong Papa and Uncle Asahi will fix it for you.  Because they’re pretty awesome too.”  

Suga raises his head and meets their eyes in the mirror.  Then he starts laughing as he squeezes Mizuki with a strong hug that has her giggling and squirming and chiding him for trying to mess up her dress before hopping off his lap to check out the view from his window.

“How the hell did you get such a smart kid, Ryuu?”  Suga asks with a grin as Asahi sighs and finishes buttoning up Ryuu’s shirt.

“To be honest I have no idea.  Must be her mother’s genes.  Cause I know I wasn’t nearly that smart when I was five.”

“You weren’t nearly that smart when you were fifteen,” Asahi mumbles as he knots Ryuu’s tie for him and makes sure it hangs straight before stepping away.

“Hey that’s rude.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

“I never knew you were so mean, Asahi.”

“Only to you because I love you so much, Tanaka.”

Suga sighs and smacks them both on the shoulders after checking that Mizuki is still staring out the window.  “Don’t let Noya hear you say that, please.  I would rather not have  _ that  _ scene at my wedding.”

  
  


 

One reason Kei really didn’t have much of a problem agreeing to be the photographer for Daichi and Suga was because it got him out of most of the typically expected socialization for the event.  It also got him out of things like setting up the reception and making sure the happy couple had food and drinks and dancing with people.  It wasn’t that he necessarily minded any of that but he liked being out of the spotlight, liked watching the event unfold on his camera screen and through the viewfinder, liked taking pictures that Daichi and Suga would be able to look back on and be able to have memories of even if they didn’t see it happen.

Like the shots of Noya and Asahi in the kitchen area with frosting on their noses and laughter in their eyes.  The pictures of Kuroo shamelessly attempting to flirt with everyone and then stumbling into a blushing mess when someone seriously flirted back at him.  The wedding party all dressed up and flushed with laughter as they peeked around the doorway into the back room where Daichi and Suga were talking quietly, foreheads pressed together as they discussed something.  Tanaka and his daughter dancing together next to Daichi and Suga.  Mizuki insisting Asahi dance with her as well, followed by pictures of Noya and Mizuki “arguing” over who got to dance with the blushing giant and then one of Ennoshita stepping in to sweep Noya away with a smirk and a bow leaving the little princess grinning.

He’s taken a lot of pictures that he’s going to be proud of when he goes through them later, he knows, but he keeps his camera at the ready throughout the night just in case; mostly just in case someone he doesn’t want to talk to approaches him.

Another reason he didn’t mind being the photographer had only really popped into his mind in the hours since the ceremony started.  Because now he could watch Tanaka and his daughter without being noticed.  He wasn’t being creepy or stalkery just curious.  Curious about the guy whose daughter loved dinosaurs and had no problem plopping down on a stranger’s bed and debating them with him for over an hour and the guy himself who hadn’t seemed too worried about his five year old wandering away and getting herself into said situation.  Sure Kei had seen the way Tanaka had watched them interacting once he realized the other man was standing there but there hadn’t been any tenseness or worry in Tanaka’s stance or gaze.  Just pure confidence and love.

Then there had been the pride on his face when he watched his daughter standing next to Suga and Asahi, blonde hair curling around the silver circlet in her hair as she watched the ceremony unfold.

There had also been the way the water from his shower had given his chest a nice sheen when he came looking for Mizuki that afternoon and the way that damn tattoo on his collarbone had drawn Kei’s attention straight to it and he had to squash the decidedly domestic feelings that had bubbled up in his veins at the sight of Tanaka smiling at Mizuki and himself.

He shakes the thoughts of Tanaka out of his head when he spots Daichi heading over with a glass of punch in each hand and a knowing smile on his face.

“Tsukishima.”

“Daichi?”

“Kuroo says you’re being antisocial.”

“Kuroo needs to keep his nose out of my business.  I’m taking your wedding photos, remember?”  Kei jiggles the camera strap around his neck a little while Daichi just laughs.

“Oh I know.  But Kuroo wouldn’t drop it and the choices were let him come torture you for a bit or come do it myself.”  He hands over the glass of punch with a grin.  “So naturally I chose myself.”

“Isn’t your husband going to miss you?”

Daichi’s eyes go a little glazed over as he turns and stares at Suga for a moment with a happy sigh while Kei sips his punch.

“My husband.  I like the sound of that.”

Small warm arms attach themselves to his leg and he glances down to see Mizuki grinning up at him.  He gives her a small smile in return before meeting Daichi’s now unglazed eyes and shaking his head.  “I hope so.  You just married him.  Otherwise I just took all these pictures for no good reason.”

Daichi glances down and then back up to Kei and then down to Mizuki again.  Kei can see the wheels turning in his head and he is just thankful that it’s Daichi he’s talking to right now and not Kuroo because he isn’t drunk enough to handle the comments Kuroo would most likely be tossing out right now.

“I, uh, didn’t know you had a kid, Tsukishima.”

“I don’t.”

Daichi chuckles and shakes his head.  “Well I hate to tell you this but you got a little something attached to your leg.  And it’s very much kid shaped.”

“She’s not-” Kei cuts off when Suga joins them and wraps an arm around Daichi’s waist, smiling at his husband before giving Kei a strange look.

“Why is Mizuki with you?  Ryuu’s been looking for her for like ten minutes.  He hasn’t reached panicked dad mode yet but he’s getting close.”

Suga turns away, probably to wave Tanaka over to their little group, and Kei takes the moment to look down at Mizuki with a frown.  She stares back up at him with sparkly eyes that make Kei feel a little awestruck but he doesn’t look away.

“I thought we already talked about telling your father before you go wandering away?”

“But I’m with you and all of Papa’s friends.”

“You still need to tell him, Mizuki.”

She looks up at him for a moment, frown on her face matching his own, and then sighs deeply, like the world is against her and she’s seen all the terrors of adulthood looming ahead of her.

“Fine.  I’m sorry.  I want punch.”

Kei isn’t entirely sure how it happens but just as he hears Tanaka join their group he’s suddenly being drug away by a five year old to go get more punch.  He hears everyone behind him laughing and he knows they’re laughing at him but when Mizuki’s fingers curl in his palm somehow he can’t really be bothered by their laughter at all.

 

 

Ryuu knows he should be more upset that Mizuki keeps trying to disappear on him, and probably would be more worried if this wasn’t an event that had so many of his friends and people he could trust everywhere.  But each time he just starts to reach worried status someone waves at him or points his attention in a different direction and there she is.  His little blonde haired angel smiling up at someone or pulling someone to dance or deep in discussion about whatever news is big in the five year old’s world.

He should be upset that the moment he reaches the little group with Suga and Daichi his daughter is dragging Tsukishima away by the hand but the slightly confused look on the photographer’s - wandering thoughts about what kinds of things Tsukishima sees through that viewfinder have been popping up ever since Ryuu noticed him at the ceremony - face more or less erases any bad feelings that might have tried to surface.

“He doesn’t quite look like he knows what hit him,” Suga says around a soft laugh as he leans his head on Daichi’s shoulder.

“Mizuki has that effect on people.”

“Do you know Tsukishima?  He seemed more comfortable with her than I would have expected.  He’s not usually one for kids.”  Daichi’s watching Tsukishima get a glass of punch for Mizuki before leading her to a table so she has less chance to spill the punch everywhere.  Ryuu watches them while he explains the room situation and the fact that the door apparently doesn’t lock properly and how he walked in that morning to find them seriously discussing dinosaurs.

“It was nice, you know.  To hear someone talking to her about her favorite thing without talking down to her about it.  Most of her babysitters don’t quite manage that.”

Daichi just shakes his head.  “Yeah, Tsukishima is kind of a dinosaur fan too.  He probably forgot he was even talking to a five year old when they got into it.”

Ryuu thinks back to the two of them bent over Mizuki’s book, so intent on their discussion they never even noticed the door opening, and laughs.  “It was kind of adorable to see a grown man debating dinosaur facts with a five year old, to be honest.”  He looks over to the table and spots Mizuki with her chin on her hands looking at the screen on Tsukishima’s camera as he shows her something and watches as she blinks slowly and tilts her head to the side, more focused on the adult beside her than the camera in front of her.  Not that he can blame her any.  There’s something captivating about the quiet man beside her.

She yawns once and blinks hard and Ryuu excuses himself.  His daughter is about to crash and he knows that if he’s not there to catch her before then she will happily crawl into the nearest person’s lap - Tsukishima in this case - and fall asleep there and while Tsukishima might be comfortable enough talking to her Ryuu’s sure he’s not quite ready for the experience that is Mizuki refusing to give up her sleeping space and insisting they stay beside her all night.

Ryuu settles down next to them and pulls Mizuki into his lap with ease despite her pouts and insisting she wants to talk to Tsukishima more.  She’s asleep within a couple minutes and Tsukishima excuses himself to the restroom “Now that she’s back with her father and not about to run off again.”

Ryuu waves him off and drops his elbow to the table, leaning back as Mizuki slumps a little to the side and curls up in his lap.  Kuroo stops by for a moment and gives him a long look, eyes bright as he contemplates Mizuki’s blonde hair, and the grins at Ryuu.

“Good thing your kid obviously got her mother’s looks.”

“I know, right?”  Ryuu shoots back.  “You have any kids unfortunate enough to look like you?”

“Nope.”  Kuroo straightens up, Ryuu would almost say he preens a little, and sighs happily.  “Never found a lady I liked enough to have a kid with and now, well, I don’t look anymore.”

Ryuu glances at whatever Kuroo’s looking at and sees a small group of people near Suga and Daichi chatting with each other.  He sees the starry in love look on Kuroo’s face he’s used to seeing on Suga’s face when he talks about Daichi.

“Ah.  Another happy couple with wedded bliss on the horizon?”

“Happy yes.  Couple not so much.”

“Oh.  Nice.  Congrats?”

“Thank you.”  Kuroo points at Mizuki.  “I don’t remember you having that the last time we met.”

“I didn’t have her.  You know, to be honest I don’t remember much about the last time we met.  Do you?”

Kuroo hums and rubs the back of his head.  “Uh not really.  I remember something appley and Daichi’s bathroom floor and you daring me to shave your head even though you had no hair anyway.”

“So not much more than I do.”

“I’m pretty sure that as the designated sober one of the evening Suga is the only one who knows it all.”

“Which means we’ll never know.”

“Pretty much.”  Kuroo’s eyes light up and Ryuu glances over his shoulder to see Tsukishima peering down at his camera.  “Gotta go.”

Ryuu waves him away and smiles down at Mizuki as she nuzzles even closer.  He rubs his thumb against her cheek softly and gathers her in his arms as he stands.  After his goodbyes to Suga and Daichi he heads back up to their room and puts his princess to bed.

  
  


 

Kei rolls his eyes when Kuroo drops his arm around his shoulders with a chuckle.  That chuckle has never boded well for Kei or his sanity or the condition of his heart or his wallet.  Kuroo reaches around him and scrolls through the pictures on his camera, stopping on one he had taken just a few minutes ago of Tanaka and his daughter while Kuroo was talking to them.  Kuroo zooms in on them, crops himself out, and nudges Kei’s side.

"You sure she's not yours?  Blonde.  Loves dinosaurs.  Talks with this all knowing tone of superiority over us lesser mortals."

"Shut up Kuroo."  Kei exits out of the pictures and shuts off his camera.  He heads over to where he remembers leaving his camera bag with Kuroo still attached to his shoulder.

"Just asking."

“Don’t you have some boyfriends to hang off of?”

Kuroo peeks past him towards the middle of the room where Daichi and Suga are dancing along with some other couples again and shakes his head.

“Nah Tooru and Keiji are busy making all of us look like ugly lumps.  Okay.  Except maybe the newlyweds because they have that special glow about them.  But definitely the rest of us.”  Kuroo’s gaze focuses back on him and Kei wonders if it’s too late to just turn tail and run because that is not a look that ever means anything good for him.  Sometimes he wonders why he’s even friends with Kuroo.  “So. Tanaka and his adorable daughter?”

“What about them?”

“I didn’t know you knew them?”

Kei rolls his eyes and gives in.  “I didn’t know you knew them?”

“Eh I know Tanaka in passing from a few years ago, before the child.  There was a party and no one but Suga really remembers the night.”

“Ah one of those.”  Kuroo nods and gives Kei a look and he sighs; sometimes it’s easier to just give in to Kuroo without a fight and honestly he’s too tired to fight right now so he gives up and finally answers Kuroo’s question.  “I don’t really know them.  They’re in the conjoining room and the door doesn’t lock and Mizuki is a curious child.”

Kei puts up with Kuroo’s chit-chat and attempts to draw him into conversation with nearby people for a little longer.  Really he has nothing against Kuroo he just doesn’t like talking to people much, making polite conversation and pretending to care about people he’ll likely never see again.  But he eventually excuses himself, tells Kuroo goodnight as he shoves him towards his boyfriends, and then give his final congratulations of the night to the happy couple before dragging himself up to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Kei gave up a long time ago trying to remember how many times he’s hung up while talking to Kuroo.  He’s fairly sure he hit triple digits sometime in the second year he had known him so he doesn’t even have a niggle of guilt when he hits the end call button in the middle of Kuroo’s laughter and drops his phone onto the couch cushion next to him.  Maybe he’d get lucky and his phone would just slide between the cushions and Kuroo would take the hint that he’s an asshole and Kei doesn’t want to deal with him.

Luck is not something on the menu for him apparently since his phone starts ringing less than a minute later.

“I just can’t believe,” Kuroo says when he answers the call, voice rough and breathy, “that you did that.  I mean I can.  You’re a giant nerd like that.  But seriously.  Why not just email him the pictures or something?”

“Because I already got them printed, like all of the pictures from the wedding.  I just thought it-”

“I know what you’re thinking and what you’re thinking  _ with _ .”

Kei ignores Kuroo’s interruption.

“-would be polite to send them to him.”  Kuroo snickers at him.  “I have some nice shots of you groping your boyfriends in front of Suga’s mother I can send you as well if you’d like.”

Kuroo’s laughter cuts off and Kei smiles.

“You’re kind of an asshole, Tsukishima.”

“Takes one to know one, Kuroo.  Now if you’re done laughing at me I have work to go do.”

“Oh I know  _ who  _ you want to go do.”

“You are juvenile.  Goodbye, Kuroo.”

Kei stares down at the pictures spread out in front of him.  He had taken a lot of pictures of the wedding and reception and even after deleting the blurry or mistimed ones he has plenty left over.  Pictures of the various friends and family before and after the ceremony.  Suga getting dressed.  Daichi with his tie knotted up.  Noya with cake batter everywhere.  Shots of streamers and decorations.  Daichi and Suga holding hands.  Asahi and Noya dancing.  Kuroo giving a sickeningly sweet and totally in love smile to Oikawa and Akaashi that practically rivals the next one of Daichi giving the same kind of smile to Suga.

There are also probably far too many pictures of the flower girl and her father.  Shots of the flowers and the silver circlet in her hair.  Her pleased smile as she stood and watched Daichi and Suga during the ceremony while he sat on the bench behind her with a proud look on his face.  The way she flitted from person to person at the reception.  Her curled up asleep on her father’s lap at the end of the night, his smile as he watched her changing the sharp lines of his face into something soft and warm.

It’s been almost a month since the wedding and he had a very nice album completed for Daichi and Suga that he had dropped off at their apartment the day before, because he doesn’t trust sending something like that via the mail and despite his outer layer of attitude he is actually a decent enough person and has manners - he just doesn’t always use them.  He had also mentioned having some nice photos of Tanaka and his daughter that he would like to give to him and had asked for his address from Suga.  Actually he had printed up an entire second set of photos that he was intending on sending to the people in them since he knows that Asahi and Noya have very few nice pictures together - most are selfies and shots of Asahi napping on the couch - and it’s hard to get a picture of Kuroo, Oikawa, and Akaashi together for some reason despite them all loving being in pictures together.

So it’s not like he’s doing this  _ just  _ for Tanaka and Mizuki and the chance to maybe talk to them just a little bit more.

His phone buzzes and Kei sighs when he sees Kuroo’s contact name flash across with a text message.

**_Useless Cat: At least be a grownup and deliver the pics in person._ **

_ Me: I’m not sure you’re exactly one to talk about being a “grownup” _

**_Useless Cat: Hey when was the last time I did anything remotely unadultlike?_ **

_ Me: Three hours ago when you texted me and told me Oikawa ate the last of your cereal so you put food coloring in his toothpaste. _

**_Useless Cat: Oh.  yeah…_ **

 

 

Kei is not exactly the most outgoing person.  He doesn’t generally like meeting new people.  He doesn’t go out of his way to try new coffee shops or diners.  He doesn’t do things on a whim (like talking to five year olds about dinosaurs at five in the morning) and he doesn’t let his emotions run away with him (like talking himself into take dozens of pictures of a certain flower girl and her father at his friend’s wedding) and he definitely doesn’t go out of his way to keep in contact with people (like asking for a virtual stranger’s address just to deliver some pictures he probably won’t even want.)

But the main point is that this is not his thing.  Going up to someone’s door and knocking and hoping they’re home and god he feels like a teenager with sweaty palms and he has to stop himself from nervously pushing his glasses up his nose.  He should have gotten Tanaka’s number instead, sent a few texts, seen if he even wanted the pictures instead of just showing up at his door like some sort of borderline creeper.  Kei feels his fingers go cold when he hears something fall over inside - it sounded like a tower of blocks or books or something similar - and he realizes just how creepy his photos might seem.  So many pictures of Tanaka’s daughter, even for the wedding photographer, and he scrambles to remember if he brought any other photos or if he had any saved on his phone or website anywhere to show that he wasn’t some sort of gross creeper who was fawning over Mizuki.

He takes half a step back, intending on going home and getting Tanaka’s number from Suga or maybe just mailing the photos to him with a note later so he can go through the pictures again and maybe pare down the number of photos a little, but freezes when the door suddenly swings open and a blonde blur flies out.  It’s the instincts from his years in volleyball in middle and high school that have him bending down and snagging an arm around Mizuki’s waist, pulling her up and against his chest in a smooth motion before he can even fully think about it.  He expects a shout of surprise or maybe a scream at being grabbed up so suddenly but she just laughs and then gasps happily when she squirms enough to turn and see that Kei is the one who caught her.

“You win!” She shouts and claps her hands before twisting the rest of the way and suddenly Kei is holding her on his hip and staring as a breathless Tanaka appears in the open doorway.  “Look Papa!  Tsukishima won!”

When Tanaka takes a deep breath and grins at Kei he definitely has to agree that he feels like he won something, though a tiny part of him - that little niggling of doubt in the back of his mind with the voice of his teenage years - wonders if winning this is going to be worth losing his heart again after all these years because he knows himself well enough now to know that that is exactly where he’s heading.  Even after only spending less than a full day with the two of them somehow they’ve wriggled under his skin and latched onto something he had thought he’d buried deep enough to never be seen again.

He feels a smile trying to slide into place as Mizuki giggles against his shoulder and Tanaka’s grin softens into something that makes Kei’s chest tight and warm and he makes his decision then and there: it’ll be worth it.  Even if he has to rebuild himself from the ground up once again and collect shattered pieces of himself scattered in the wind it will be worth it.

  
  


 

To say that Ryuu was surprised when he ran to the door after his daughter and spotted her settled against Tsukishima’s chest like she belonged in his arms would be an understatement.  He could blame it on the slight fever he was pretty sure he had thanks to his cold but the sight of Mizuki laughing against Tsukishima’s shoulder made his knees feel a little weak and his head swam a little at the smile that seemed to be trying to work its way onto Tsukishima’s face.

“What,” he blinks hard as the world around Tsukishima goes a little watery and wavery.  “Uh, what’s up?”

He sees the tiny smile trying to crawl onto Tsukishima’s face - really he should smile more often his face is amazing when he does Ryuu’s sure - take a nosedive and fall straight off as he gets a stern look.

“Are you alright?”

Mizuki looks from Tsukishima to him, worry starting to creep into her expression, and he laughs.

“Just a little tired from chasing this wayward princess through her castle.”

“I was a val- um, vali-,” Mizuki frowns, brows creasing before she suddenly grins, “super brave knight protecting the castle from the bad dragon.”  Ryuu watches her tug at the collar of Tsukishima’s t-shirt and he really must be feeling a bit more feverish than he thought because the way the dark shirt pulls to the side and exposes the pale line of Tsukishima’s collarbone should not be that intriguing to Ryuu as Tsukishima tilts his head closer to hear Mizuki whispering loudly.  “Papa is a dragon.  It says it right in his name.”

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow and he really shouldn’t find that amused almost condescending yet indulgently awed look attractive.

But amused indulgence was always a weak spot of his.  Especially when directed towards his daughter so naturally.

“Ryuu,” he explains and Tsukishima’s eyes light up in understanding.  “Tanaka Ryuunosuke.”  He lets out a quiet breath and blinks slowly as his headache rears back to life.  “Would you like to come in, Tsukishima?”

“Kei,” Tsukishima suddenly says after Mizuki scrambles down and runs back inside.  “Tsukishima Kei.”

Firefly.  Ryuu does his best to not think about how the name suits him somehow.  Not in the sparkly butt sort of way, though watching Tsukishima step into his house and gracefully bend to take off his shoes Ryuu can appreciate what does appear to be a nice butt, but the fitting name is in more of a mystical magical lighting up life sort of way.

God this headache and mild fever are totally getting to him.

“So what was it that brought you here?”  Ryuu finally asks again once they’re settled on his couch with some tea and Mizuki is cleaning up her toppled tower from earlier, carrying each book back to her room and carefully shelving each of Ryuu’s she had used back into their proper bookcases.

He’d like to pretend it’s just the fever addling his body that makes him think Tsukishima’s face is cute when he blushes and stumbles over something about bringing photos from the wedding that had him and Mizuki in them.  But he distinctly remembers thinking of Tsukishima as cute when he watched him seriously debating about dinosaurs with his daughter all those weeks ago.  And it’s not like Tsukishima hasn’t popped up in Ryuu’s mind from time to time since then or anything.

Ryuu watches as Tsukishima digs into the messenger bag in his lap and carefully pulls out an envelope.  He stares at the long fingers toying with the edge of the envelope until Tsukishima clears his throat nervously and Ryuu snaps his focus back.

“I can come back a different time if you’d like.  Or just leave the pictures and call it good.”

Tsukishima seems nervous, poised on the edge of the couch like he’s about ready to bolt and Ryuu feels a jolt of panic.

“No!”  Tsukishima’s surprised blink makes Ryuu close his eyes, take a deep breath, and lower his voice.  He had always been loud, even back in high school, and sometimes he forgets to contain himself.  It’s a trait that’s adorable for Mizuki to have gotten and a little embarrassing for him to still have.  “Sorry.  No I’m happy to see you I swear I am like you have no idea I just…  My head is starting to throb like I’m hungover even though I’m not and I’m pretty sure I have a fever so the whole focusing thing isn’t going so hot for me right now.”

“If you’re sick shouldn’t you be resting instead of chasing around a five year old?”

Ryuu laughs and runs a hand over his head roughly before scrubbing it down his face.  “Dragons and single dads don’t get days off Tsukishima.”  He holds his hand out for the envelope and wiggles his fingers when Tsukishima doesn’t hand it over right away.

He flips through the pictures slowly, a little more in awe of each one he sees.  He never even saw Tsukishima taking most of them.  There’s shots of Mizuki carefully holding her basket of flowers during the ceremony and dancing with Asahi at the reception.  Pictures of himself nearly doubled over in laughter over with Noya in the kitchen and Daichi glaring at them from the doorway as they clean up cake and icing from everything.  A good couple dozen pictures spanning the day spread out on the couch between them and his eyes are constantly drawn back to three of them.

They’re a little different than the other candid shots throughout the day.  The first is a close up of the circlet his daughter wore, silver and sparkles glimmering through her curly blonde hair.  The second is her asleep in his lap at the end of the night, curled against his chest while he cradles her cheek in his hand and the content look on his face in the picture, the unguarded love he can see, makes him flush a little.  Or maybe it’s the fever making him flush and not the wave of surprise over how well Tsukishima captured the moment.

His favorite picture though is the last.  Most people probably wouldn’t even be able to tell who it was from glancing at it and the more he looks at it the more it looks like some fancy picture you’d see on a greeting card or as the background of some inspirational poster about family.

It’s Mizuki’s hand in his.

He recognizes his own calloused hand, the scar on his thumb from when he and Noya had built the bookcase in Noya and Asahi’s living room a few months ago, the nails he keeps almost too short because he doesn’t want to snag them on Mizuki’s hair when he brushes the snarls out of those curls or on her delicate dresses.  Mizuki’s small fingers are wrapped around his long ones and he feels a wave of something washing over him as he studies the artistic lighting and the obvious editing and care that went into the shot and the touch ups.  His eyes sting a little and he blinks rapidly.  Man this fever is getting to him more than he thought.

“If you’re tired I can keep an eye on her for a couple hours so you can nap.”  Ryuu’s eyes snap up and he almost laughs.  Tsukishima looks confused that he offered, eyes drifting to the side while he does this little almost pout and scrunches his nose before blinking a few times and meeting Ryuu’s gaze again, moving to stand.  “I mean I know you barely know me and it’s probably a dumb idea I should just leave the pictures and go home and leave you guys alone.”

Ryuu does laugh this time at Tsukishima’s ramble and he gets a glare in response that just makes him laugh harder.

“No.  It’s cool.  I trust you with her.”

Tsukishima’s eyes narrow behind his glasses, a pink flush on his cheeks that Ryuu does his best to ignore, and sits back down on the couch.

“You’re very trusting of strangers around her.”

Ryuu can feel Tsukishima’s eyes on him as he carefully collects the photos and slides them back into the envelope, lingering a moment on the picture of Mizuki’s hand in his before sliding it in and shutting the envelope.

“Not really.”  He stands and tucks the envelope onto his bookcase.  “I’m actually pretty protective but she’s already an excellent judge of character and she seems pretty fond of you.  And Suga and Daichi trust you.  Like seriously trust you a lot and that’s, well, that’s an impressive thing.  Plus I swear I can hear my pillow calling out my name and my head feels like it’s literally throbbing.”  He grins and rolls his eyes when it turns into a yawn.  “So if you’re serious and don’t have anything better to do for a couple hours I would kill someone to take you up on your offer.  But only if you stay for supper or something so I can repay you.”

“Can you even cook decently?”

Ryuu laughs again at the stunned look on Tsukishima’s face, like he’s not used to his brain to mouth filter not working properly, and then immediately regrets it when his head gives a violent pulse.  He rubs at his temple for a moment.

“I may not be the culinary wizard that Noya is but I can cook a decent meal thank you very much.”

  
  


 

Kei doesn’t have the slightest clue what he’s doing.  Why he offered to watch Mizuki so Tanaka could nap.  Why he even went through with showing up unannounced in the first place.  This isn’t like him at all.  He’s not really a “giving” person.  He doesn’t print up pictures for an almost stranger for free and go out of his way to drop them off.  He doesn’t offer to watch their kid so they can take a nap no matter how flushed their cheeks were or how glassy their eyes were getting or how their strong body swayed like a light breeze would knock them over when they stood up off the couch.

Not that Kei was staring at Tanaka’s body.

Much.

He pushes his fingers under his glasses and rubs at his face in frustration.

What the hell was he even doing?

“Where’d Papa go?”

He knows next to nothing about taking care of anyone, especially five year old girls looking at him with bright, curious eyes and a pout on their face.

“His head was hurting a lot so he went to lay down for a little while.”

Was that a proper way to explain things?  He know that a lot of people seem to dumb down their words for younger kids which he always felt was kind of ridiculous.  They’re younger not mentally impaired.  Just because they might not understand five syllable words and scientific terms didn’t mean you needed to talk down to them.  But now that he doesn’t have the safety net of a dinosaur book or the distraction of dozens of strangers and his camera he has no idea how to handle the situation.  He has next to no experience with kids and he’s starting to wonder what the hell he was thinking when he blurted out his offer.

Well obviously he wasn’t thinking.

“Is that why his dragon didn’t have much of a roar today?”

And obviously he didn’t have to dumb anything down for Mizuki.  Even if her way of describing things was a bit different than he expected.

“Probably.  Even dragons need a nap once in awhile.  So I promised to keep an eye on you so he could rest.”  Mizuki watches him carefully and huffs out a tiny pout.  It shouldn’t be quite so endearing and a tiny part of Kei wonders where the hell his normal cynical asshole self seems to go when faced with this tiny blonde child.

“I can take care of myself.”

Kei nods, because he’s sure that with her apparent determination Mizuki honestly probably could take pretty good care of herself for a couple hours.  That pout looks only a few seconds away from turning into something that reminds Kei too much of his own temperamental middle school years and leans towards her like he’s about to share a secret.

“I know you can.  But he’s a dad and dad’s worry.  Remember Suga and Daichi’s wedding?  Telling him before wandering away?  Asking for permission before talking to strangers?”

Mizuki studies him and Kei feels like he’s stuck under a microscope and she can see every flaw he has ever had from now dating all the way back to when he was her age and the world was still full of sparkles and dragons and castles of books that reached to the sky.  Then she blinks and nods and hops up onto the couch next to him.

“Do you have more neat pictures to look at?”

His stomach settles out of the knots he hadn’t really noticed were forming.  This he can handle.  This he can talk about.  Even if Mizuki doesn’t understand the more technical aspects of lighting and composition she still listens to him talk while she flips through the pictures he had brought over and then happily moves on to the pictures on his phone.  The phone ones aren’t the best - there’s only so much you can do with a phone camera after all - but they still fascinate her for whatever reason and Kei finds himself smiling as she laughs at a picture of Hinata curled protectively around a volleyball in his sleep with his little sister caught red handed and wide eyed in the middle of drawing on his face.

He still doesn’t really have the slightest clue what he’s doing nearly three hours later when Tanaka shuffles into the living room and freezes, blinking slowly at them as he tries to take in the scene.  Kei would be embarrassed by the fact that he has a tiara delicately balanced on his head if he hadn’t heard Tanaka chasing Mizuki around pretending to be a dragon earlier that day.  Or so he tells himself even as his cheeks heat and flush and his hands get sweaty and he has to resist the urge to lace his fingers together nervously.  Mostly only because Mizuki is perched in his lap reading him a story and his hands are occupied by holding the book for her so she’s free to gesture as she reads.

“I didn’t realize I was having royalty for supper.”

Mizuki pauses mid-sentence and grins.

“Papa!  Does your head feel better?”

“Yeah.”  The smile on Tanaka’s face makes Kei’s chest ache, doubly so when it’s shifted from Mizuki up to Kei himself.  “I feel a lot better, thank you.”


	3. Chapter 3

Ryuu isn’t exactly sure what has happened.  Or how it’s happened.  All he knows is that he’s looking at the screen on his phone, rereading the text message for the fifth or sixth time, with what is probably one of the dumber looks he can manage with a giant sappy grin on his face.  The butterflies in his chest remind him of high school in a not entirely unpleasant way and for a moment he feels the shakiness and unsurety of being sixteen settling in his bones instead of his usual mildly confused but fairly confident feeling of being twenty-six.

Tsukishima is on his way over and Mizuki is spending the weekend with Saeko because Ryuu has the best sister in the entire world even if she did embarrass the hell out of him when he had left that afternoon by arching one well maintained eyebrow and telling Ryuu to go and “get himself a piece of hot photographer action” and to “have fun and play safe” and he had promptly turned red and choked on his own breath, showing just how well his big sister could still get the upper hand on him.

Partially because he and Tsukishima didn’t have a relationship like that.  They had fun when they talked.  They snarked and sassed each other.  They almost got kicked out of a grocery store because they were busy trying to outdo each other with sarcastic comments about the people around them.  They spent time talking about Tsukishima’s photography hobby - seriously Ryuu keeps telling him that he could make it more than a hobby but Tsukishima is so unsure about it - and they talked about Ryuu’s carpentry hobby - which Tsukishima often used on Ryuu with the same thing about making it more than a hobby.  They laughed and sent stupid texts to each other.  Ryuu whined at Tsukishima when his sleeplessness caught up with him.  Tsukishima ranted at Ryuu when he dealt with yet another endlessly aggravating customer at work.

But he also turned that horrible shade of red partially because he was starting to wonder if they were falling into that kind of relationship.  Because they also shared quiet looks over Mizuki’s head when Tsukishima stopped by for supper.  They curled up on either end of the couch with Mizuki going from one to the other, pouting, until she made them sit closer so she could snuggle between them and when Ryuu would come back from putting her to bed and drop right back into that almost too close space Tsukishima wouldn’t move away.  They sought each other out at Daichi and Asahi’s birthday party to talk and laugh and bump shoulders and brush hands and Ryuu had fallen into the new year with Tsukishima’s sarcastic laughter ringing in his ears and Tsukishima’s smirk burned into his mind.

And now Tsukishima is coming over to spend the evening with him and, if Ryuu can play his cards right, maybe the whole weekend.

He’s not even thinking about anything like his sister had hinted.  Not really.  He’s just looking forward to potentially having a weekend spent with another adult.  He loves his daughter but it feels like it’s been a lifetime since there’s been a day without dragons and princesses and book towers and he’s looking forward to whatever nonsense he and Tsukishima get into without having to worry about Mizuki.

As it turns out the nonsense they do get into involves sitting far too close together on the couch, downing what little beer Ryuu had on hand, devouring three bowls of popcorn, and arguing about the special effects in the series of ridiculous action movies that they watched.  By the time the last movie’s credits roll it’s nearly 3AM and Ryuu’s sprawled on the couch with his head on Tsukishima’s thigh and the bowl of popcorn kernels on the floor and Tsukishima’s thumb rubbing back and forth softly against Ryuu’s neck where his hand has been the last hour or so.

Ryuu lets out a yawn and scrubs his face against Tsukishima’s thigh.

“Have to get up early to pick Mizuki up?”  Tsukishima doesn’t stop his gentle thumb rubbing as he reaches for the remote and shuts the tv off.

Ryuu yawns again, jaw cracking, and shakes his head.  “Didn’t I mention it?  Saeko is keeping her the whole weekend.  Something about having a girl’s weekend.”  He laughs a little and shakes his head again.  “Mizuki’ll probably come back with a dozen new outfits and two new toys and a handful of books.”  Then he stiffens a moment and groans, burying his face into Tsukishima’s thigh.  “She better not take Mizuki to get her ears pierced.  I told her I wanted her to wait until she was at least ten or twelve.  No ears pierced until she’s at least ten and nothing else until she’s an adult.  And no tattoos until then either.”

Tsukishima snorts and drops his hand down Ryuu’s neck to tug at his collar.

“Isn’t that a little hypocritical?”

“Hey I was a mature adult when I got that thank you very much.”

“ _ Legal _ adult, maybe.  Mature?  That’s debateable.”  

Ryuu twists onto his back and stares up at Tsukishima.  The smug twist of his lips and the way his eyes crinkle at the edges as he gives Ryuu a teasing look make Ryuu’s stomach trip over itself in an attempt to… well to do something it probably shouldn’t judging by the way everything inside him seems to be tangling up.  He really shouldn’t find sarcastic asshole to be an appealing look.  But it works for Tsukishima.  Or at least it does when Tsukishima is being sarcastic to him.  Because there’s a light in Tsukishima’s eyes that brightens each time Ryuu throws a sarcastic comment back at him or laughs at his words or drops his arm around Tsukishima’s shoulders instead of chiding him or turning away.

It’s that light in his eyes that seems to shine even in the darkened living room that has Ryuu reaching up and cupping Tsukishima’s cheek with a smile.

Then he rolls himself off the couch and snags the almost empty bowl.

“Talk of maturity coming from you?  That’s rich.”

 

 

It’s not the first time Kei’s woken up next to someone, no matter how much Kuroo likes to taunt and tease him.  It is, however, the first time in a long time he’s woken up next to someone when nothing happened the night before.  He had been perfectly content to crash on Tanaka’s couch since there was no way he planned on trying to make it home at three in the morning.  Only to have Tanaka snag his wrist after coming back from the kitchen and tug him down the hall.  Ten minutes and a borrowed pair of pajama pants and toothbrush later he had found himself in Tanaka’s bed watching as Tanaka got himself ready for the night.  It should have been weird to watch something as domestic as Tanaka grabbing his dirty clothes and heading back out to Mizuki’s room to grab hers before tossing them in the hamper and then changing into a pair of pajama pants.  Watching him come back from the bathroom rubbing at his still damp face and blinking tiredly as he shut off the light and shuffled to the bed.  Watching him in the dark room as he pulls up the blankets and flops into bed next to Kei.  But it wasn’t weird at all.

There had only been a few awkward minutes where they shifted and rolled and twitched as they tried to make themselves comfortable, not completely used to the size of each other’s bodies laying like this, and then Tanaka had rolled onto his side with a huff and snuggled at him until Kei lifted his arm for Tanaka to use his chest as a pillow, their legs tangling together.  And that was that.  It hadn’t taken long for either to fall asleep after that.

Now Kei is blinking blearily at the morning sun, surprised he actually slept well in a bed that wasn’t his own, and wondering if he can sneak to the bathroom so he can pee without waking Tanaka, who is snoring quietly against his chest.  Tanaka huffs a little and scrunches his nose a couple times before stilling and Kei takes a moment to just look at him.

He wasn’t sure what to expect, or what he wanted, out of this whatever it was.  They were friends, that was for sure, but Kei wasn’t sure if there was anything more to it or if he wants more.  Sure he had spent the night in his friends’ beds before but usually not quite so wrapped around each other.  And it had taken awhile to get used to the casual touches and friendly closeness that came with being Kuroo’s friend.  But that wasn’t really anything like this.  

He found himself making time for Tanaka that he wouldn’t for most of his friends.  Sharing meals with him and his daughter had become a routine.  Kei was over for supper at least three or four nights a week anymore.  He read Mizuki bedtime stories to give Tanaka a little break.  He found excuses for their hands to brush and their shoulders to touch and sometimes he didn’t even have an excuse.  He’d just stand a little too close to Tanaka and help him do dishes after supper, shoulders pressing against each other as they passed plates and pans to each other.

Kei can feel Tanaka waking up.  His breaths are shortening and his fingers twitch against Kei’s skin a few times before he goes completely stiff and his eyes slowly open.  When Kei smiles down at him Tanaka relaxes, warm body sinking against Kei, and sighs happily.

“Mornin’ Kei,” Tanaka mumbles into his chest and Kei shivers a little.  He tells himself it’s because of the way Tanaka’s breath ghosts across his skin but he knows it’s just as much that as it is the way Tanaka said his name.

“Good morning, Ryuu,” he says back softly.  His cheeks are probably red enough to be mistaken for apples if the heat he feels in them is anything to go by.  But the smile that lights up Tanaka’s face before he buries it in Kei’s chest in embarrassment is worth it.

“I just used your given name,” the words are muffled but Kei hears them clearly.

“Yep.”

“For the first time.”

Kei hums and runs his hand along Tanaka’s shoulders.  “Yep.”

“In bed.”

“We are.”

“And we didn’t even have sex.”

“No we didn’t.”

“We haven’t even kissed.”

“Nope.”

“I am so embarrassing.”

“Only sometimes.”  

Kei yelps as Tanaka pinches his side hard and then he rolls until he can pin Tanaka’s hands above his head and glare down at him.  A glare that’s probably not as effective as it could be considering his glasses are on Tanaka’s dresser so there’s a bit of squinting involved.  Tanaka’s eyes wander over Kei’s face for a moment and then he grins, arches up and kisses the tip of Kei’s nose before dropping back to the bed with a sigh.

“I don’t wanna get up yet.”

 

 

Kei rolls his eyes as he pours a second cup of coffee, toes curling and uncurling against the cool tile floor of Tanaka’s kitchen, before grabbing them both and heading back to where Tanaka is whining about being cold and lonely in the bedroom.

“Oh my god I love you,” he blurts out when he sees the mugs in Kei’s hand and Kei can’t help the snort he lets out.

“Do you say that to everyone who brings you coffee in bed?”

“Yep.”  Kei’s stomach does a weird little twist at that and then twists some more when Tanaka gives him that stupid sleepy grin.  “Since you’re the only one who has ever done it.”

Kei does not choke on the sip of coffee he had just taken but he does use the steaming cup to hide his face a little.

“I take it back,” Kei finally says, settling on the edge of the bed and watching out of the corner of his eye as Tanaka sits up carefully and leans against the headboard.  “You are incredibly embarrassing.”

“It’s one of my charms.”  Tanaka takes a couple deep swallows of coffee and sighs appreciatively.  “It’ll come in handy in a few years when I reach the “embarrassing dad” stage of Mizuki’s life.”

“I can’t wait to see that.  She’ll put you in your place so fast your head will spin.”

Kei doesn’t miss the appraising look on Tanaka’s face, the curiosity in his eyes and even though he knows his face is turning red again - damn his pale complexion to hell and back for that wonderful little trait - he doesn’t stumble around his word or try to take them back.  He honestly wouldn’t mind still being around these two in a few years in whatever capacity they would want him.

“She’s already outspoken and, thankfully, has her mother’s sharp mind.  Not sure she’s gonna need your sharp tongue too.”

Kei snorts.  “You make it sound like you don’t like my sarcasm.”

“Oh, no.”  Tanaka takes a drink of his coffee and moves to set the mug on the small nightstand next to the bed, stretching across Kei’s lap in the process.  “Honestly I find your sarcasm much more attractive than I probably should.”  He shifts until he’s on his back with his head on Kei’s bent knee.  Tanaka takes Kei’s free hand and tangles their fingers together.  He’s blushing, Kei realizes.  It’s not as obvious thanks to Tanaka’s darker complexion and the fact that it’s mostly right on the top of his cheeks and the tips of his ears but now that Kei is looking he can also see a flush crawling down Tanaka’s throat and he laughs.

Then he bends forward, careful to hold his mug of coffee to the side, until they’re nearly nose to nose.

“The fact that you find my sarcasm attractive is worrying.”  Kei closes the last couple inches of space between them and kisses him.  “I can’t stand you,” he murmurs against Tanaka’s lips when they part.  “Not one bit.  You’re disgusting.”

“Good thing I have such a cute daughter to help me out then huh?”

“Honestly she’s the only thing keeping you from being absolutely horrifying.”


	4. Chapter 4

Ryuu wakes with a start, eyes adjusting to the morning light quickly as he comes up from a dream of black skies and murky waters.  The silence in his bedroom is the first hint that something’s not quite right.  The coolness of the sheets beside him is the second hint.  He sighs in frustration, but he doesn’t panic.  How those two can be such morning people he just doesn’t understand.

A bleary-eyed stare a his clock for a few minutes tells him it’s just after 6AM and all he really wants to do is go back to sleep and he considers it as he shuffles to the bathroom on sleep heavy legs.  But the light drifting down the hall from the kitchen and the familiar voices he hears makes him curious and in the end curiosity wins out.

“Mizuki?”  He calls out softly, voice still gravelly from sleep.  “Kei?”

“Wait Papa!  Not yet!”  The blonde ball of energy that is his daughter flies out of the kitchen with a panicked gasp before he even makes it to the doorway.  “You can’t yet go back to bed.”

“Can’t what?”  Ryuu tugs her into his arms and lifts her off her feet, smiling at the giggle it earns him.

“Can’t come into the kitchen,” Kei says as he leans his head around the doorway.  “Go lay back down we’ll get you when we’re ready.”

There’s a hint of mischief in Kei’s eyes that makes Ryuu wary but the smile he gets from both of them makes him roll his eyes and nod.  Something flutters into view for just a moment as Kei nods and pulls back into the kitchen but Mizuki’s wriggling to be let down before he can see what it was.  He does and then heads back to the bedroom to wait for whatever they have planned.

He’s curled up under the blankets and almost asleep again when the door opens and Kei steps inside with two steaming cups of coffee.  

Ryuu sighs happily and closes his eyes, holding his hands out for the hot mug.  “I love you.”

“Do you say that to everyone who brings you coffee in bed?”  Kei teases.

“Of course.  Since you’re the only one who has ever done it.”  Ryuu responds automatically, wrapping his fingers around the mug and humming in contentment when Kei settles on the bed beside him.  “But seriously,” he says as he sits up, eyes opening to watch his coffee so he doesn’t spill it, “I love you.”

“Of course you do,” Kei replies.  “I ply you with coffee and think your daughter is adorable.”

“You’re -” Ryuu cuts off his sentence when he finally glances up and takes in Kei’s appearance, “wearing a towel as a cape.”

Kei’s face turns bright red and Ryuu can’t help that he finds it so damn endearing that he leans forward and kisses Kei’s cheek.

“I forgot.  I woke up and Mizuki wanted to play but we didn’t want to wake you and oh my god.”

“My hero,” Ryuu whispers before he draws Kei into a proper good morning kiss.

“Papa,” Mizuki whines from the doorway.  “You two are so embarrassing.”

Kei huffs out a laugh against Ryuu’s lips, pressing forward for one more quick kiss, before setting his mug on the nightstand and slipping off the bed to help Mizuki with the tray she’s carrying.  By the time the three of them are settled comfortably on the bed, Ryuu in the middle with the tray on his lap, Mizuki is already chattering at them both about the cool set of dinosaur books that the library at school has and how she’s already planning on checking them all out by the end of the year.

“She’s turning into a giant nerd, just like you.”  Ryuu curls against Kei’s side with a content hum when Mizuki insists on taking the tray with the empty dishes to the kitchen by herself.

“Better a nerd like me than a loser like you.”  Kei presses a kiss to Ryuu’s forehead and tugs the blanket up around them both.

 

  
Mizuki watches from the doorway as her Papa and Kei fall back asleep with a happy smile on her face before heading to the living room.  As a valiant princess knight she had the duty to protect the kingdom while the dragon and his king slept after all.  And it was a duty she took seriously.


End file.
